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Prehistoric Greenhouse Data from Ocean Floor Could Predict Earth’s Future, MU Study Finds

By Guest PostOctober 29, 2011Environmenta jimenez berrocoso, atlantic ocean temperatures, atmosphere, atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide, biosphere, c basak, circulation in the deep ocean, circulation patterns, climate, e e martin, element, fish teeth and bones, geological climate cycles, greenhouse climate, greenhouse climate on earth, isaza londono, kenneth macleod, late cretaceous epoch, late cretaceous greenhouse interval, modern increases in greenhouse gases, natural tracking system for water masses, neodymium, ocean floor, oceans, salty water mass, south atlantic, tropical atlantic, university of missouri

*Evidence of water mass moving south 70 million years ago shows how warmth was distributed*

COLUMBIA, Mo. – New research from the University of Missouri indicates that Atlantic Ocean temperatures during the greenhouse climate of the Late Cretaceous Epoch were influenced by circulation in the deep ocean. These changes in circulation patterns 70 million years ago could help scientists understand the consequences of modern increases in greenhouse gases.

“We are examining ocean conditions from several past greenhouse climate intervals so that we can understand better the interactions among the atmosphere, the oceans, the biosphere, and climate,” said Kenneth MacLeod, professor of geological sciences in the College of Arts and Science. “The Late Cretaceous Epoch is a textbook example of a greenhouse climate on earth, and we have evidence that a northern water mass expanded southwards while the climate was cooling. At the same time, a warm, salty water mass that had been present throughout the greenhouse interval disappeared from the tropical Atlantic.” (more…)

CU-Boulder Python Study May Have Implications for Human Heart Health

By Guest PostOctober 29, 2011Health, Sciencebeneficial growth of heart cells, blood of burmese pythons, blood plasma, bloodstreams, brooke harrison, cardiac health, cardio protective enzyme, cecilia riquelme, cyclist, fatty acids, fed python blood plasma, genetic heart diseases, healthy heart growth, heart disease conditions in humans, hiberna corp, human heart disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, jason magida, key enzyme, lance armstrong, leslie leinwand, main constituent of natural fats and oils, metabolism, michael phelps, mini pumps, olympic swimmer, plasma, pythons, sudden death in young athletes, tom cech, triglycerides, university of colorado boulder

A surprising new University of Colorado Boulder study shows that huge amounts of fatty acids circulating in the bloodstreams of feeding pythons promote healthy heart growth, results that may have implications for treating human heart disease.

CU-Boulder Professor Leslie Leinwand and her research team found the amount of triglycerides — the main constituent of natural fats and oils — in the blood of Burmese pythons one day after eating increased by more than fiftyfold. Despite the massive amount of fatty acids in the python bloodstream there was no evidence of fat deposition in the heart, and the researchers also saw an increase in the activity of a key enzyme known to protect the heart from damage. (more…)

Zoning Laws Can Help Pandas and People Live in Peace

By Guest PostOctober 29, 2011Natureenvironmental protection, help pandas, pandas, wildlife habitat, zoning in wolong, zoning laws, zoning ordinances

EAST LANSING, Mich. — As the world’s biodiversity hotspots are increasingly stressed by their human neighbors, zoning is becoming a common strategy to balance environmental protection and human needs. But a recent study conducted by Michigan State University researchers shows zoning for conservation demands reality checks. (more…)

Fighting Violent Gang Crime with Math

By Guest PostOctober 28, 2011Culture, Scienceactivity on social networks, alexey stomakhin, algorithm, andrea bertozzi, anthropology, applied mathematics, crime patterns, crime patterns of the hollenbeck gang network, criminal activity between gangs, east los angeles police district, gang crimes, hollenbeck, jeffrey brantingham, lapd, los angeles police department, martin short, mathematical algorithm, missing information, police, set of simulated data, sophisticated methods, street gangs, the best job in the world, ucla mathematicians, victim or perpetrator, violent crimes

UCLA mathematicians working with the Los Angeles Police Department to analyze crime patterns have designed a mathematical algorithm to identify street gangs involved in unsolved violent crimes. Their research is based on patterns of known criminal activity between gangs, and represents the first scholarly study of gang violence of its kind.

The research appears today on the website of the peer-reviewed mathematical journal Inverse Problems and will be published in a future print edition. (more…)

Scientists Develop Technology Revolutionizing Single-Cell Studies

By Guest PostOctober 28, 2011Sciencearchaea, bacteria in the human body, bacterial infections, bacterial pathogenesis, deep sea, global gene expression, j craig venter institute, laser tweezers system, microarrays, microbial cells lacking a nucleus, novel technology, prokaryotes, rna seq, rna sequencing, single bacterium, single cell transcriptomics, snyder hall laboratory, stuart p donachie, tung t hoang, university of hawaii at manoa, yun kang

Researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, in collaboration with scientists at the J. Craig Venter Institute, have made a significant breakthrough in developing a novel technology to investigate global gene-expression in a single bacterium. The team, led by Associate Professors Tung T. Hoang and Stuart P. Donachie, recently published a paper describing the technology in Genome Research (21:925-935), a premier international genome journal. UH Mānoa postdoctoral researcher Dr. Yun Kang, who performed this research in a Snyder Hall laboratory, contributed significantly and worked diligently to overcome the numerous technical challenges presented. (more…)

You Are What You Eat: Low-Fat Diet with Fish Oil Slows Growth of Prostate Cancer Cells

By Guest PostOctober 28, 2011Health, Scienceamericans, antibody, cancer cell growth, cell cycle progression, composition of cell membranes, corn oil, evaluated blood samples, fish oil supplement diet, fish oil supplements, growth of prostate cancer cells, jonsson comprehensive cancer center, ki 67, low fat diet, malignant cell proliferation, omega 6 fatty acids, omega-3 fatty acids, progression of prostate cancer, proliferation, prostate, prostate tissue, prostatectomy, protein, rate of prostate cancer cell division, targeted organ, test tube, william aronson

Men who ate a low-fat diet with fish oil supplements for four to six weeks before having their prostate removed had slower cancer-cell growth in their prostate tissue than men who ate a traditional, high-fat Western diet, according to a study by researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The researchers also found a change in the composition of cell membranes in both healthy cells and cancer cells in the prostates of men on the low-fat, fish oil–supplement diet. The membranes had heightened levels of omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil and decreased levels of omega-6 fatty acids from corn oil, which may directly affect the biology of the cells, though further studies are needed, said Dr. William Aronson, the study’s first author and a researcher with the Jonsson Cancer Center. (more…)

Preschoolers Understand Threats in Households with Violence

By Guest PostOctober 27, 2011Healthchildren's comprehension, kathryn howell, mother harmed by violent conflicts, physical or sexual, preschool-aged children, preschoolersers, sandra graham-bermann, sexual violence, university of michigan, violence in the homes

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Preschoolersers are aware and understand threats when they see their mother harmed by violent conflicts at home, a new University of Michigan study finds.

The study explored what factors influence children’s comprehension and response when violence occurs.

Researchers evaluated intimate partner violence—conflicts that can be physical or sexual—in the past year for 116 mother-child groups with known violence in the homes. The children were 4 to 6 years old.

Few studies have looked at children’s observations of violence as young as age 5, and the new U-M findings are one of the first to assess outcomes for kids as young as age 4, said Laura Miller, a psychology graduate student and study’s lead author. (more…)

‘Pacman’ Nebula Gets Some Teeth

By Guest PostOctober 27, 2011Scienceconstellation cassiopeia, cosmos, infrared light, NASA, ngc 281, pac man, pacman nebula, star forming cloud, wide field infrared survey explorer, wise

To visible-light telescopes, this star-forming cloud appears to be chomping through the cosmos, earning it the nickname the “Pacman” nebula, like the famous Pac-Man video game that debuted in 1980. When viewed in infrared light by NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, the Pacman takes on a new appearance. In place of its typical, triangle-shaped mouth is a new set of lower, sharp-looking teeth. The Pacman is located at the top of the picture, taking a bite in the direction of the upper left corner.

The teeth are actually pillars where new stars may be forming. These structures were formed when radiation and winds from massive stars in a central cluster blew gas and dust away, leaving only the densest of material. The red dots sprinkled throughout the picture are thought to be the youngest stars, still forming in cocoons of dust. (more…)

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